CINCINNATI — Depending on the perspective, the game Sunday between the Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals was officiated too much or should have been officiated more.

That’s what kind of day it was during this slugfest the Bengals won, 34-30.

“They play with a serious edge and when you play with an edge like we’ve been playing lately, tempers are going to flare,” Packers end Mike Daniels said. “You might cross the line a little bit, but that’s just how it is.

“I’d rather have that than be labeled as soft like happened to us.”

There was a scrum among linemen after almost every field goal and extra point.

There was a hit to tight end Jermichael Finley’s head that knocked him out of the game and a shot to quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ knee that was legal but could have resulted in a bad injury.

There was Bengals safety Reggie Nelson’s hit on Rodgers that appeared to be completely clean but was called a personal foul. And there was linebacker Vontaze Burfict’s clean hit on receiver James Jones that was ruled unnecessary roughness.

“It was a hard-hitting, hard-fought game,” center Evan Dietrich-Smith said. “Stuff happens. We had flags on the ones that were illegal and there’s probably a few where they should have thrown some.

“It’s their discretion. They say they’re going to err on the side of safety. Some of them they missed.”

One that tight end Ryan Taylor thought they should have called was a punch to the groin Taylor said he received from Burfict after an extra point. Taylor shoved Burfict after it happened and wound up drawing a 15-yard personal foul penalty.

“I didn’t see it,” Daniels said. “I just saw he was livid when he came to the sideline. He told me got hit down there, I’d be pretty angry, too.”

After the game, Taylor was still seething.

“I’m standing there and he comes up and punches me in the groin,” Taylor said. “I tried to get him away from me and he flops. No. 55 is a real coward. I hope the league takes a look at that.

Another Packer who thought he was unfairly flagged was cornerback Tramon Williams, who was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness after throwing tight end Marvin Jones out of bounds after a 22-yard catch. The officials thought Williams threw him down unnecessarily.

The penalty was big because it moved the ball from the Packers’ 40 to the 25. The Bengals scored two plays later.

“I was just making a routine play,” Williams said. “Actually, this is the funny part about it, it’s a possession or two later and I didn’t even know they called a penalty on me.

“I’m on the sideline and a guy was like, ‘Yeah, that’s the penalty they called on you’ and I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ That’s how bad it was.”

All told, the Packers had two roughing calls and one personal foul and the Bengals had two roughing penalties.

Protection issues

Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer saw the weakness in Green Bay’s offensive line. The problems early on for the front five have been on stunts, on twists, on movement up front.

So not surprisingly, he used his deep defensive line accordingly. Behind Michael Johnson, the long, disruptive defensive end, the Bengals rattled Green Bay’s offensive line.

Cincinnati finished with four sacks, eight total hits on Rodgers and created a game-long uneasiness for the quarterback. Free rushers roamed.

“Obviously in the passing game, early in the game, they did some stunts and twists, got some free guys around and got a couple hits, got a couple sacks,” right guard T.J. Lang said. “I felt like it got better as the game progressed.”

Creating chaos inside, the Bengals pressured Rodgers when it mattered most. Green Bay converted only 4 of 15 third and fourth downs.

On one third and 7, Johnson beat Dietrich-Smith inside and tagged Rodgers when the quarterback had Andrew Quarless wide open down field. On a third-and-17 sack in the second quarter, the Packers couldn’t handle a stunt.

“Aaron got hit too many times,” Lang said. “That’s something we have to continue to work at. They’re a hell of a defense. Their strength is up front. We knew that going into the game they’d have six, seven, eight guys that can all play at a high level for them.

“We take a lot pride in trying to win our one-on-one blocks. There were certain designed plays where you’re supposed to get help. But for the most part, you’re expected to go out and win your one-on-one blocks. It’s not about how one guy plays. It’s about how five guys play together in unison.”

Swat team

The Bengals batted down three passes at the line of scrimmage and none was bigger than the two they had on the Packers’ final possession.

On second and 8 at the Packers’ 49, end Carlos Dunlap deflected one of Rodgers’ passes aimed at Randall Cobb. Then on fourth and 5, Johnson tipped Rodgers’ pass to James Jones that probably would have been completed for a first down.

The final one wouldn’t have happened if left tackle David Baktiari had executed his cut block on Johnson.

“It was my fault,” Bakhtiari said. “I had been doing well on him all game long on those cuts. Then they called upon me to do it that time and I couldn’t do it. That’s all on me.”

Missing ingredient

Heading into Sunday, McCarthy planned to use tight end Jermichael Finley. The matchup seemed tailor-made for his skills. He could use his athletic, physical frame over the middle of the slower Bengals linebacker group and continue to break tackles.

Then, with one target, he was done for the day. On a pass from Rodgers up the seam, Finley couldn’t handle the ball and then absorbed a hit to the head from safety George Iloka. The result was a concussion and he was done for the day.

Removing Finley from the game plan threw that rhythm off. The Packers sputtered in the red zone. And while Quarless and Taylor seemed to hold their own, they don’t offer the same dynamic ability in the passing game. Big plays were sparse. The two combined for 32 yards on five catches.

“Losing Jermichael early like that,” McCarthy said, “he was a featured player today. So you adjust. I thought Ryan Taylor did some good things. I thought Andrew Quarless started slow, but he did some good things. But it affects your rhythm.”

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

More in Sports

Glen Perkins’ 16-month comeback odyssey reached fruition Thursday afternoon as the decorated Twins reliever trotted in from the bullpen to pitch the ninth inning against the Cleveland Indians with a four-run deficit. It hardly mattered to Perkins, activated off the 60-day disabled list for his first big-league outing since April 10, 2016, that he was being eased back into the...

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck spent eight minutes breaking down why he declared Thursday that both Demry Croft and Conor Rhoda will play in the season opener against Buffalo on Aug. 31. Whether the sophomore Croft or the senior Rhoda takes the first snap at TCF Bank Stadium will be inconsequential, Fleck said, and despite how one of them performs...

Max Kepler made up for his embarrassing miscue in memorable fashion. Shortly after his slip on the slick outfield grass allowed the tying run to score in Thursday’s doubleheader nightcap, Kepler cracked his 15th homer to lift the Twins to a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Indians at Target Field. That seventh-inning turnabout ended a 10-game home losing streak against...

Stephane Veilleux plopped down at a local Caribou Coffee last week and the memories of his near decade-long career with the Minnesota Wild came flooding back. He smiled when he talked about getting picked in the third round of the 2001 NHL Draft. That smile grew as he described his first career goal, which he proudly noted came against legendary...

St. Croix Central won’t forget last year’s surprising run to the Division 4 state title. The Panthers went 4-3 in Middle Border Conference play – the minimum conference record required to advance to the postseason – before going on a five-game tear through the playoffs. The run included a 21-14 upset win over Osceola, the MBC champion, and a last-second semifinal...